Lake Izabal

Lake Izabal is the largest lake in Guatemala, some six hundred square kilometres of warm water in the eastern lowlands, and it drains to the Caribbean through the Rio Dulce, a river that runs the last stretch through a gorge of limestone cliffs hung with vegetation. That outlet made the lake a route inland for goods and for pirates, and the Spanish built the fort of San Felipe at the narrows in the seventeenth century to close it, a small castle of towers and walls that still stands and can be walked through. Boats work the lake and the river, the shores hold hot springs and villages, and Rio Dulce town is the base for all of it.

What you actually see

• The Rio Dulce gorge - limestone cliffs on the run to the Caribbean.
• Castillo de San Felipe - the seventeenth-century fort at the narrows.
• The largest lake in the country - six hundred square kilometres of water.
• Boat traffic on the river - the working route between lake and coast.

When to go

November to April, the drier part of the year. Two days for the lake and the river gorge. Boats down to Livingston run daily and are the standard trip.

Honest expectations

It is hot and humid year round and mosquitoes are heavy. Rio Dulce town is a noisy road junction rather than a pleasant base. Boat prices are negotiated and vary. The lake has faced significant pollution and land use disputes.

Nearby

El Estor is west; Livingston lies downriver on the coast.